Kentucky Oral History Commission

From tenant farmers and lay midwives to political leaders and nationally acclaimed authors, the Kentucky Oral History Commission (KOHC), administered by Kentucky Historical Society, reaches across the state to record and preserve the diverse stories that are a part of Kentucky’s rich and colorful history. Nationally, KOHC is the only state commission committed to statewide oral history documentation through granting programs and outreach. Since 1976 KOHC has:

Awarded more than $1 million to more than 600 grants to individuals, colleges, universities and community organizations, resulting in the collection of more than 35,000 interviews located at repositories throughout the state.

Established a collection of nearly 10,000 interviews, one of the largest in the United States, at the Kentucky Historical Society.

Oral History Grants

The Kentucky Oral History Commission grant programs offer monetary, equipment and training grants to assist amateur or professional oral historians with oral history research projects on topics of particular significance to Kentucky. These grants encourage statewide participation in the collection and preservation of historically valuable interviews.

KOHC also offers accreditation for archives that want to be permanent repositories for oral history collections which KOHC sponsors through grant awarded funds and resources.

Presentation grants support the use of existing oral history collections in a variety of media including traditional exhibit, online exhibit, film, print publication, radio and podcast.

Technical Assistance and Preservation Assistance Grants

Two KOHC grants are not cash-based, but they provide equipment and/or training. Applications for these grants may be submitted at any time and will be acted upon within 30 days of submission.

Technical Assistance Grant

Technical assistance grants provide audio recording equipment, recording media and applicant training for local and community oral history projects by individuals or organizations. Download the grant application (PDF).

KOHC Archival Accreditation

Archives that want to be permanent repositories for oral history collections which KOHC sponsors through grant awarded funds should receive KOHC Archival Accreditation. The guidelines, which includes a series of standards, allows KOHC to be responsible stewards of the state resources for oral history documentation and to maintain support for Kentucky repositories which continue to grow and manage their oral history collections in a responsible manner. Contact the commission for details.